Trains
by watashi wa kyo2
Summary: They say you should run towards the train at a 45 angle but still away if your car or something like that is on the tracks and a train is coming. If instead you run left or right from the tracks the debris from the object the train hits will hit you. Now, if only they told you which way to run if you were tied to the stupid tracks! Brandt-centric featuring the team.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Hello readers! This is my first Mission Impossible fic and hopefully won't be my last. It's a WIP but I already know where I'm going with it. Should update sometime this week, if I'm not busy. _

_Disclaimer: Let's face it, I don't own Mission Impossible...yet. _

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Trains run on train tracks at pretty high speeds depending on the train and its cargo. It also takes them a good many feet to completely stop.

They say you should run towards the train at a 45° angle but still away if your car or something like that is on the tracks and a train is coming. If instead you run left or right from the tracks the debris from the object the train hits will hit you.

_And that concludes my knowledge on trains at this moment. Now, if only they told you which way to run if you were tied to the stupid tracks! Yeah, try teaching that yah morons!_

Brandt's angry thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a train whistle in the distance.

"Oh that's just wonderful, now I know how long I have to live before I'm run over by a train."

How had Brandt gotten himself into the cliché 'damsel in distress' setting, you ask? Well, the team finally got a little break from their mission load.

They were being assigned some American arms dealer mission where the guy had somehow acquired certain IMF personnel files. He was planning on selling them to enemy countries and the team was supposed to stop it but at the last second they were told instead to take a vacation

Something about not overworking themselves or getting injured was said but no one complained. Benji had planned out this whole movie night they were going to have at his place.

Jane was bringing the popcorn, Ethan the drinks, and Brandt, well, Brandt got sent to the video store near Benji's apartment to pick up a long list of movies that ranged from James Bond to Star Trek.

Just as Brandt was walking out of the store with the movies a black SUV drove up and parked. Three guys climbed out of the vehicle.

Brandt recognized one of them but he couldn't remember from where. His casual walk back to his car now was turning into a slight jog as he suddenly felt a greater need to leave.

One of the men saw him and discreetly ran after him. Brandt was trying to unlock his car when he was tackled by the man.

Falling to the ground the analyst was dazed for a few seconds before he shoved the guy off. Thankfully the guy was only a little bigger than Will so it would be an easy fight.

Jumping up from the ground, Brandt went on the offensive. He aimed a few punches at the guy then grabbed the guy, stuck his foot behind the guy's leg and pushed.

As soon as the guy hit the ground Brandt pulled out his gun and pointed it at the guy, which after just referring to him as "the guy" Will decided "the guy's" name was Bob.

"Why did you attack me?" Brandt growled.

Bob's face lost all color as he eyed the gun.

"Answer me. Why did you attack me?" Brandt was extremely irritated now, and it only made things worse when his phone went off.

Keeping the gun aimed at Bob, Will got his phone out of his pocket and, seeing Benji's name pop-up, silenced it but the damage was done.

While the phone had been ringing one of the men from the SUV snuck up behind Will and hit him in the head. As Brandt fell and darkness started to claim him, his brain finally placed the face of the man.

It was the arms dealer that they were almost assigned to go after.

_MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP~MI:GP_

"Where is Brandt? He should be back by now." said Jane, only to have her worries brushed off.

"Relax, I gave him a long list. He's probably taking his time just standing in line."

But Benji's reply didn't stop the odd feeling that Jane was getting. Something wasn't right. Sensing Jane's uneasiness, Benji decided to appease her.

"Look, how about I call Brandt and ask him what's taking so long."

Pulling out his phone, Benji hit speed dial number 3. It only rang twice before it went to voicemail.

"Well that answers that. He hit the ignore button, I bet because he's driving." Benji reassured, although even he was starting to get a bad feeling.

When 15 minutes passed with no sign of Will they all started to get worried. Ethan decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I'm going to drive over to the video store and see if he's still there. If not, then Benji can track his phone."

Ethan got up from the couch, grabbed his keys, and was out the door. It took him all of 7 minutes to get to the store, driving only a little bit over the speed limit.

He couldn't stop the sigh of relief when he saw Brandt's car still parked there but his relief quickly changed back to worry when he saw the flashing lights.

Ethan parked his car and ran over to the officers who were questioning people.

"Officer, what happened?"

"Kidnapping." The officer said gruffly.

"Of who?"

The man eyed Ethan as if attempting to figure out if Ethan was just curious or something more sinister.

"I'm not at liberty to say. I suggest you just leave." Turning his back on Ethan, the policeman started to walk away, but Ethan wanted answers.

He dashed in front of the policeman and stared angrily at the man.

"My friend was here and now he's not answering his phone. His car is still parked right here. I need to know who was taken."

Ethan may or may not have dosed his words with a little bit of desperation but the cop complied.

"Tell me your friends name and I'll check the receipt for the movies he rented. If they match I'll let you know."

"His name is William Brandt."

The officer nodded and walked over to another officer. Ethan held his breath. The policeman talked to the other officer before turning around to return to Ethan. He had a grave look on his face when he stood in front of Ethan.

"I'm sorry son, but it was your friend who was taken. They have cameras and the footage shows three guys knocking him out and taking him. You wouldn't happen to have any idea as to who would do this, do you?"

Ethan could have given him a whole list of names but instead, he opted to lie.

"No sir. Will was liked by everyone. I have no clue who would have taken him." Putting on his best 'shocked' face Ethan was already formulating a plan to get Brandt back. Lucky for him the cop fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

"That's alright. Sometimes it's just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. You just go home and leave this to the professionals"

The cop patted Ethan on the back and then walked back over to the other cops.

Ethan walked as fast as he could to his car without looking like he was fleeing the scene. He didn't need the cops suspecting him, it would cause too many problems.

As soon as he was back on the road he called Benji.

"Hello?"

"Someone took him."

"What? Took who?"

"Brandt. Some guys ambushed him at the video store. They have cameras there so I need you to tap into them and see what happened. Have it ready by the time I get there." And with that Ethan hung up.

He was definitely speeding this time. Ethan arrived at Benji's apartment in 4 minutes and was running through the door.

Ethan could admit he was impressed when he saw Benji was already isolating the men who kidnapped Brandt and was running their faces for identification. They didn't have to wait long.

"Oh my gosh. It's Kevin Hardy, the arms dealer we were supposed to go after."

Benji wasn't the only one surprised but they didn't have much time for it.

"Is there any way you can track them?" Jane asked.

Her question spurred Benji into action again as he started to type on his computer.

"Yes!" Benji suddenly shouted, practically jumping out of his chair.

"You can track them?"

"Oh Ethan, I can do more than track them" Swiveling around in his chair Benji faced them.

"You remember those GPS boots we forced Brandt to wear during that mission in Vietnam? Well, Brandt never returned them no matter how many times I asked. And, he's wearing them right now!"

"So then where is he?"

Benji turned to look at the computer again. He clicked a button and a map popped up. A red dot was moving down Elbe Street and onto Fisher, 45 minutes away from Benji's apartment.

"Let's go!" Ethan said as he and Jane ran out the door. Benji followed with his laptop in his hands.

Running towards Benji's van they hopped in. If only things with Brandt were going so well.

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_Please Review_

_A Cliffy but you shouldn't have to wait too long! :)_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry for taking sooo long. School decided to give me a few major projects and then I had a family crisis to boot. Here is the second chapter. I was planning on making this a short and sweet story, complete with humor, but it seems that dream has gone up in flames. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mission Impossible. :(**

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His eyes felt like lead as Brandt struggled to open them. His head hurt tremendously and he figured it must be from where the thugs knocked him out.

_So, where am I?_

Eyes opened, albeit slowly, scanning over the basement-like room. Will was tied to a chair in the center of it.

His shoes and socks had been removed along with his shirt. Chill bumps covered his torso as the cold of the room invaded his bare chest.

Just as he began inspecting the room more closely a door behind him opened with a resounding thud, startling Brandt.

"I see you finally decided to join us. I was beginning to worry they hit you too hard."

The voice stayed behind him. Brandt told himself that the guy was just trying to make him feel uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, it was working.

"What do you want with me, Hardy?" Will said defiantly.

"It's more of I want _from _you. The IMF seems to think I have multiple personnel files, but really, I only have one. Yours, Agent Brandt."

Hardy whispered this right next to his ear, a shiver went down his spine, and it wasn't caused by the cold.

_Why am I so affected by this guy? It's not like he-_

"-drugged you?" Hardy finished as he walked in front of Brandt.

"Oh but I did. This is only a taste of what is to come. Imagine trying to hide everything you know, former chief analyst, when you can't even think without speaking out loud."

The arms dealer grinned. Brandt felt an overwhelming need to control some part of the encounter.

The giant glob of spit flying into his captor's face may not have been the best idea.

Hardy wiped the liquid off his face, along with the smile. An angry look now was present on his features.

"You know, Agent Brandt, I was just planning on giving you the truth serum, but now, I'm going to have a little fun extracting the information from you a different way."

Hardy nodded to two of his men behind Will. They walked over to the chair as one pulled out a syringe full of some kind of liquid. The other grabbed Brandt's arm, holding it still.

The needle stabbed into his arm even as he attempted to stop it. The liquid slightly burned in his vein as the drug was plunged into his body.

He felt his mind going while the drug was acquainting itself with Will's brain.

_What is this? What is happening to me?_ He mentally screamed.

In the distance, almost drowned out by the roaring in his ears, a voice whispered, "This should put him in his place. It will last for a few hours and by then he will be ready to talk."

Footsteps and the sound of a door slamming was the last bit of reality that truly registered in his brain before it was shoved into a different world.

_~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~_

"Benji, is he still moving?" Ethan asked while he was driving.

"No, he stopped. Take a left on Walter Street and keep driving straight. It's transmitting from somewhere on the side of the road." Benji replied still staring at his computer.

"Stop!" The tech suddenly shouted.

"What is it?" Jane asked hopefully.

"It says he's exactly to the right of our position. Do you see anything?"

"Yeah, a dumpster with a pair of boots at the top." Jane said angrily, but not at Benji.

"All of this has been for nothing." She muttered pessimistically.

"Jane calm down. Benji, are there any cameras around the dumpster?" Ethan looked back at the tech.

"Oh my gosh, we can use them to see who threw out the boots in the- ooh you're a genius Ethan."

Benji started to type away.

"They have cameras on the corner of the street, so, calculating what time the boot's GPS coordinates stopped moving and narrowing down the number of cars driving in that direction gives us… Aha, a black SUV and a lovely license plate. I wonder why they didn't change vehicles."

"It doesn't matter, keep tracking it on other cameras nearby, and see where it goes."

"Okay Ethan, it will take some time."

"That's fine, I'm calling the IMF headquarters. It's time they know an agent is missing"

_~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~_

Bugs were crawling all over him, he just knew it. He could feel the prickling sensation on his chest, and yet he kept his eyes tightly shut.

_There is nothing there, it's the drug, not bugs. _He thought, mentally steeling himself for what was to come.

Only two minutes later he reached his limit of resisting. Opening his eyes, instead of bugs it was blood dripping onto to him from above.

He looked up at the ceiling. Brandt's breath hitched when the hanging body of Jane Carter met his eyes. Her face was stuck in an expression of fear.

The blood was falling from a bullet wound in the stomach.

"I am so sorry." Brandt said weakly as his head fell back down to rest on his bloody chest. Blood was now pooling underneath his feet.

Two bodies lay face down in front of him, Brandt's heart clenched as he recognized the remaining members of his team.

Will jumped when Benji's body moved, lifting its head up to look at him.

"Where were you Brandt? We needed you." It whispered, gurgling out blood.

Tears were pouring down Will's cheeks, all reality was lost to him.

"It's your fault we're dead." Jane whispered from above.

Soon all three bodies were chanting that phrase, pushing Will into guilt and self-loathing. The blood turned back to bugs and their bodies to snakes.

Brandt began thrashing wildly, causing the chair to topple over onto its side. The snakes were slithering up his body along with the bugs.

Brandt could handle that without screaming. When the lights turned out, however, all hell broke loose.

Hardy couldn't help but chuckle when the agent started screaming.

_~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~_

"Benji, do you have anything?" Ethan asked for the fifth time in the last hour.

"No Ethan. I know that being told to let IMF find Brandt is frustrating but I'm trying to undermine their authority and find him, so please stop asking." Benji snapped.

Ethan opened his mouth to shoot back a smart remark but was cut off by Benji.

"I found them!"

"Where?"

"You know that warehouse on Alexander? The one recently claimed to be "unstable"? The SUV stopped there."

"Let's go!" Jane said. Ethan started the vehicle and sped off into the direction of what they hoped was the current position of their friend.

It would take them thirty minutes to arrive, more than enough time for Brandt's mind to lose itself in the abyss of the drug.

_~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~_

"Help! Get them off me!" He shouted.

They were everywhere. If his arms weren't tied down, he would have been clawing at his skin, most likely drawing blood by now.

_Get them off! Oh please! _His mind repeated like a mantra.

The lights flickered on. Fear flooded into Will when his eyes landed on the two thugs and their boss.

"Are you ready to talk?" Hardy growled.

Something inside Will spoke out, yelling no at the three men.

"So be it. Break him. I don't want any defiance to be left, just a shell of the man should be here when I return."

Hardy walked out. His men couldn't decide on who should beat him first, so they flipped a coin. Now only one was in the room, cracking his knuckles while his predator-like gaze roamed over Brandt's twitching body.

He cut Will's bonds, releasing Brandt from the chair, only to retie them and hang him from the ceiling by his wrists.

The first punches were manageable, but when he felt two ribs crack, combined with the effects of whatever they gave him, his eyes started to slide shut.

Too bad his attacker anticipated this. Pure dread was all that Will could feel as a needle was pressed into his arm for the second time that day.

Unlucky for him, this drug was much worse.

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**Please Review!**

**Hopefully I won't procrastinate and can deliver you guys a chapter soon. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you all for the reviews, the follows, and the favorites. Here is chapter 3. I feel only slightly cruel with this chapter but it maybe because of the ending. :) Was supposed to be longer, but a visit to Dairy Queen caused it to be shorter, sorry. Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mission Impossible. **

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The drug started working instantly as Brandt felt his vision blur a bit and his heart rate increase. He felt more alert, all thoughts or even hopes of passing out were lost, but he also felt twitchy.

Will's mind felt like it was floating and was extremely light, something he had never experienced before.

The thug grinned, but to Brandt it looked more like a grimace, or maybe a scowl, or maybe a smirk, or… His mind was jumping all over, most likely a symptom of the drug.

"What did you give me?" He managed to whisper in between his rampart thoughts.

"We also took a file from IMF's drug creation branch. This one was labeled for interrogation, but it also said untested on the side. We needed you for the information, being a guinea pig was just another perk. Now here you are with it pumping through your veins." The man chuckled when his speech was ended.

_Brandt just couldn't get the dumb thug, he just had to get the smart one. _

Brandt's thoughts then shifted to the glowing colors around the room that were sooo bright. They were like the rainbow and Brandt really wanted to touch them, for some odd reason.

_Stop it, me, don't look at them,_ but Brandt's body and mind didn't comply.

His mind was struggling to touch the colors, too bad he was still hanging from the ceiling by his wrists. Brandt didn't realize it, until it dripped down his face that he was slobbering.

_Why is that, of all things, happening? _He questioned.

That was when his captor's face and body changed. They morphed into Ethan.

_No, not again! _Will thought weakly but his thoughts couldn't stay on one topic for long.

Ethan walked up to him and he had a baseball bat in his hand.

"Ethan, what are you do-"

The air was knocked out of him by a hit to the stomach that sent him swinging. His wrists were hurting from holding all his weight and Brandt's fingers were numb.

Some optimistic part of Brandt told him to hold on, he could take it, but it was quickly silenced by the hit to the ribs. A snapping noise rang out, his two cracked ribs breaking, preceding the scream of pain.

The colors intensified with every hit by the baseball bat. This was when the bugs returned with a vengeance, but this time, Will had no chance of smacking them off. A headache was forming in his mind, getting worse with each hit.

"Ethan please stop." Brandt pleaded.

Will's emotions were running haywire. When his addled brain craved for the colors to become brighter and the bugs to be smooshed on his skin he would beg for the pain. It would be regretted only moments later.

His body was twitching all over and his skin, when no bugs were on it, was feeling weird. An obsessive need to pick at it and scratch it started dictating all of Brandt's thoughts, even more so than the bugs.

The beatings faded, although they were still going on, and his body shook with this great need that gripped him.

_I got to scratch it, I've got to. Please let me, please. _The agent's new mantra continued to plague his thoughts.

"Ethan stop." He absently whispered again, while blood poured out of his mouth from his split lip. Ethan had stopped using the bat a few minutes earlier and was back to fists. Behind the traitorous teammate Benji and Jane stood, encouraging Ethan hit harder.

It had only been 10 minutes since he was dosed.

All of the sudden the attacks stopped and Ethan released Brandt from his bindings, dropping the agent to the floor. As soon as his hands were free, even with the pain as the blood flowed back into them, Brandt began clawing at his skin, his hair, at everything.

The bugs weren't even at the forefront of these actions, his irrational need was. It took all of 30 seconds to draw blood. That was also when Brandt became split between the bugs and the uncomfortable skin, and doubled his efforts to end both, causing the damage to also increase.

Soon it was hard to find a spot on his arms or chest where there wasn't any skin damage. These obsessions that gripped his mind, occupied it so that the sledgehammer came out of nowhere, and when it contacted with Brandt's foot his world froze.

Time stopped and then the shaking started again, but another symptom was a new obsession. Brandt was now biting himself and the bugs. Ethan was laughing at him.

15 minutes since injection.

Spasms now racked his body. Sometime during the spasms the colors, which had dimmed a bit, turned to darkness, as well as the rest of the world.

Sound became distorted. He was quickly losing his senses. In only two minutes Brandt lost the ability to hear.

He called out, "Ethan, where are you?"

The only indication Will even got that he was speaking was the feeling of blood fly out of his mouth. He was starting to freak out.

_Where is he? Get the bugs off! Get them-_

Something touched him. It was just a light tap but it was there. It happened again, in a different spot. Brandt stretched his arms out in front of himself, as he sat up on the floor, grasping for the creature.

It found him first.

The dog took a big chunk out of Brandt's left arm and another bit his smashed foot, which had become numb and manageable until the canine's teeth sunk into its bludgeoned flesh.

Brandt practically growled at them changing into a whimper when two more joined the chewing fest. He flailed and tried to bite them himself, ripping fur off of one. The two new dogs started playing tug-a-war with Will's battered body.

His good leg was being pulled, along with his right arm. Something had to give, and his shoulder did with a sickening pop that Will only felt. The dogs, however didn't stop with this.

An "in touch with reality" part of Brandt's drugged zombie food thought they were going to rip his limbs off. Self-preservation finally took a little control and using his teeth, Brandt somehow clamped onto one of the canine's throats.

With a jerk of his head a few times the flesh finally disconnected and Brandt got another mouthful of fur, but blood splattered on him, or at least he hoped it was blood. The body also fell onto him.

The rest of the pooches let go, called back by their master. One lingered, eyeing a prize it wanted. A giant chomp later, the dog was attempting to rip off Will's left ear, yanking and pulling at it.

Brandt was punching wildly at the animal, the dead dog hindering his movement. The dog won out. A yell of pain was heard and a canine returned to his master, holding the prized piece of the injured agent's ear in its jaws.

25 minutes since the dose.

While Brandt curled into a ball on the floor, forcing himself to ignore the bugs but still clawing at his bloody dermis, three people arrived at the warehouse.

They entered the building silently and knocked out the man in the front room. They raced into the room holding their teammate and the scum that was hurting him.

The dogs were shot in self-defense along with their master. Benji was the first to reach Will. Their friend was shaking in the middle of the floor, curled into his self, a dead dog next to him.

"Will can you hear me? Will?"

But Will, still under the effects of the drug, couldn't hear the agent or even see him. Benji lightly touched his trembling friend, jerking back when Brandt lashed out and even attempted to bite his hand.

"Brandt, it's me." Benji said, however, he noticed the way Brandt's dilated eyes were searching for Benji, and even though they roamed over him, they never stayed and focused.

"Can you see me?" Benji asked, reaching forward again and not flinching when Will tried to attack him. He gripped Will's shoulders, holding him still while he tried to hurt him.

By now both Jane and Ethan were trying to calm Brandt down. It wasn't working so Ethan did what he had to do. He picked up Brandt to do a fireman's carry and go to the car. Ethan inadvertently jarred Will's broken ribs and his dislocated shoulder.

The agent stiffened before he began squirming to get out of Ethan's arms.

"Let go!" He whispered, the pain from his ribs making it impossible to speak any louder.

"I can't do that Brandt. We're going to take you to a hospital." Ethan said, but knew his friend wouldn't hear him.

He braced himself for what he was going to have to do. Ethan sighed and then finished lifting Brandt, but instead of doing a fireman's carry, he cradled Will in his arms. IMF was already on its way to clean up the mess and take the other man into custody for interrogation.

This left Ethan, Jane, and Benji to take Will to the hospital. There was no time to waste. Ethan had Brandt to the car in a mere 1 minute with Benji and Jane right behind him.

Benji hopped in the back and they laid Brandt on the seats, his head resting on Benji's lap. Brandt was still awake, but wasn't paying attention to them now, the bugs were very persistent. Ethan and Jane were in the car and driving off in a minute after that.

They wouldn't find out until after the IMF agents did clean up duty and identified the drug that it only reached full potential, as in the cruel effects used for the actual interrogation part, after 1 hour after injection.

35 minutes since injection.

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**Please Review.**

**Now you know why I feel cruel. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Because of my Dairy Queen fetish that caused the last chapter to be shorter, this one is longer. :) And no I wasn't on anything when I wrote this chapter, just in case you ask while you're reading!**

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah don't own blah blah blah Mission Impossible blah blah blah**

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45 minutes since injection.

It had taken Ethan only a few minutes to drive to the hospital, albeit at insane speeds. The car was barely even parked before Benji was out of the car, Brandt in his arms, carrying him much like Ethan did to the vehicle.

The man himself was still trying to get out of Benji's arms, as he had the entire ride, but kept having to stop every time it bumped his leg. Once in the hospital all Benji had to say was "IMF" to the only 'in the know' doctor at the hospital and Brandt was on a gurney.

He was rushed into an operating room because his foot needed surgery right then. Now his three teammates were waiting outside of the theater, each sitting in those horrible plastic chairs.

Benji was tapping his foot and then was making a beat with his fingers on the arm rest as nervous ticks took over. Jane was chewing on the side of her lip and resisting the urge to pick her nails.

Ethan, however, just was sitting still, not even moving. On the inside he was also resisting an urge, but pacing would have to wait. Hardy wasn't in the warehouse, he could be anywhere.

_But what if Brandt told him something? _His paranoid cynical side whispered.

_He wouldn't have talked, _Ethan shot back in his head, fighting off the negativity.

_He was drugged with who knows what, it could have been a truth serum for all we know, _the negative argued and it was beginning to win Ethan over.

Jane was experiencing similar thoughts.

_What could he have told them? Where did Hardy go?_

Both were going into depth on what repercussions could be caused and the messes they were going to have to clean up. Only Benji was actually thinking and worrying about their injured teammate.

_What if the drug causes amnesia? What if he can't return to the force? His foot was smashed pretty bad._

Just like Brandt, Benji was battling between the positive and the negative, but the positive was starting to win.

_His foot will heal and the drug will go out of his system. He'll be back to normal in no time. It's Brandt, nothing can take him down._

And with that in mind, he got up from his chair, stretched, and then glanced at his two teammates.

"I'm going to the snack machine, do you guys want anything?"

Benji's cheerful tone slightly annoyed Jane.

_How can he be so happy and carefree while our friend, who may or may not have given away IMF secrets, is in surgery with a severely injured foot and has his system pumped with drugs?_

But Benji continued to be optimistic. Neither Ethan or Jane wanted anything so he went alone. When he got to the machine he picked a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and thought sadly, for just a second, about how Brandt loved Nacho Cheese Doritos better.

In a split second, Benji had bought a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos for Brandt.

_When he gets out of surgery and is hungry, he'll want these, _Benji justified, although he would have preferred Will to be eating them with Benji right now.

When he got back to where Ethan and Jane were waiting the former had given up and was pacing.

57 minutes since injection.

The operating doors opened and a doctor in scrubs walked out. Ethan got to her first.

"How is he?"

She looked at him gravely.

"We weren't able to do a full surgery, just a patch up for now until the drug is flushed from his system. We could only give a little bit of pain relievers but they didn't do much. He was awake for the entire operation. Agent Brandt will be moved into ICU and will stay there until he is ready for another surgery."

She was turning to walk away but Benji wanted a little more information.

"What about his other injuries?"

She sighed. "We reset his shoulder and his ribs have been wrapped. We can't do anything about the ear, again, until the drug is-"

"-out of his system. I got it." Benji said.

The doctor gave him a look and then walked briskly away. Jane got up and stood next to Ethan and Benji.

"Let's go find out which room he's in so we can visit." She said, only smiling slightly.

"Righto!" Benji said, and practically skipped down the hall towards the nurse's desk. The head nurse eyed him and did not look impressed.

Benji just smiled and asked sweetly, "Do you know which room William Brandt is in?"

Still giving him the evil eye, the lady looked at the computer screen and then at the files on the table.

"He should be in room 213, which is this floor, right down that hallway." The nurse said in a monotone voice.

"Okay, thank you." Benji said, turning to tell the newly arrived Ethan and Jane.

As they walked down the hall a commotion could be heard coming from Brandt's room. They raced down the hallway and into the hospital room.

63 minutes since injection.

_~MI:GP(Flashback, 35 minutes)~_

Hands were grabbing at him and trying to lift him up. They were succeeding in jarring his ribs and bumping his leg.

_Stay away from me. Please, _Brandt pleaded in his mind.

He was helpless to their wishes with his body being in its weak state and two of his five senses being out of commission.

Someone was holding him now and running with him, he could tell. He expected to be thrown down onto the ground or in the trunk of some sort of vehicle, so it was a surprise when he was gently laid on some seats. His head was propped up on one of his captor's laps.

_Why are they being so nice? _Brandt mused but his thoughts were interrupted by what felt like radical driving.

The entire ride was a blur of nausea and pain. When the vehicle jerked to a stop, Brandt himself, although it wasn't harshly done, was jerked out of his comfortable position and into another person's arms.

They were running again, Brandt figured this was his chance. He started trying to squirm out of his captor's hold, but when his foot would move and hit the guy, Will was forced to stop all movement and let the pain pass.

_Got to get away, _he continued to chant, but when he was put on a a soft cot, he stopped struggling for a few seconds.

Brandt felt like he was moving, or the cot was being moved. The bugs, who had been scared away by his intensely painful car ride, returned. They were crawling all over him and he really wanted to smack them. It seems that his captors had somehow managed to restrain all his limbs, making crushing any bugs impossible.

_Must have been when I calmed down for a second, _a rational thought slipped through the veil of fuzziness that had been present in Will's brain since injection.

He wriggled in the bed, braving through the pain in his ribs and dislocated shoulder. He stiffened when he felt a needle enter into his arm and inject something else into him.

_No, not again. _He panicked and tried to shy away from the needle, but it did no good, he was completely immobile.

_What does this mean? _Brandt's mind screamed.

The uncomfortable feeling of the bugs and the irritating skin were driving Will crazy. That was when the pain came, although a tiny bit muffled, and Brandt completely lost all human thought and went straight into animal instinct.

Something was cutting into his broken-no-smashed to smithereens leg. Limbs tried to flail but only managed to fight against the straps that held them in place.

Even his injured foot was trying to get away, which was a problem for his captors apparently. Several pairs of hands grabbed his leg to hold it in place as the surgeon continued to cut into the swollen and bruised skin.

They needed to at least line the shattered bones up so that the bones would start healing in the right spots. They couldn't put any pins or screws in at the moment, but it was soon to come.

In the mean time, Brandt was still fighting off the doctors. They did a quick line up before sewing the skin back up and splinting the leg. Once the splint was on it was wrapped and then strapped into place.

Then hands touched his dislocated shoulder and others were holding the rest of his torso down. Brandt couldn't even prepare himself for what happened next.

With a jerk and a twist that felt like fire Will was plunged into more pain, although his shoulder felt somewhat better. Then something was being twisted tightly around his chest and ribs, putting pressure that naturally hurt.

By the end of the torture 30 minutes had passed, give or take. Will felt like he had been in tormented for a lifetime. His thoughts were still jumbled from the pain as he felt the same sense of movement as before.

It finally stopped and Brandt was at a loss for where he was, without eyes or ears, no pun intended about the ear. Of course the bugs were still with him. His captors hadn't removed the restraints, yet.

Hands removed the strap from his right arm, big mistake. Brandt grabbed the arm of someone and jerked it, throwing the person over the bed and onto the other side's floor.

All of the sudden his vision cleared and his hearing returned instantly, for some odd reason, but Will didn't have time to care about its sudden return, he had bigger problems. There were three zombies in the room with him.

Brandt's heart clenched with terror and his mind froze. One zombie was on the floor and the other two were helping it up. Brandt's eyes widened in fear. Survival instinct now took hold, and unlike animal instinct, there was some rational thought, just none that would remind him that zombies don't exist.

Brandt used his free arm to undo the bindings and he jumped out of the bed. The adrenaline rush masked the pain in his arm and ribs but not so much his leg.

As soon as it touched the floor it collapsed under Will's weight, and with it went the rest of him.

_Move! Get up! Do something! _His panicked thoughts demanded but all he could do was scoot back when the zombies began walking towards him.

"Stay back!" Brandt shouted at them.

He was hyperventilating now and grasping for any sort of weapon he could use against the creatures. There wasn't anything.

_Plan B: hand-to-hand, _Brandt's mind supplied and he made a mental note not to get bitten or scratched. When the closest zombie bent down right in front of the agent, Brandt did the first thing that came to mind, he punched it right in the face with all his adrenaline boosted strength.

It fell back into the other two zombies bodies, who failed at catching their buddy.

_Why me?_ Brandt asked himself. That was when three other zombies ran into the room.

_I'm so dead. _

They each started moaning and growling to each other, like they were talking.

"Stay away from me or I will break you necks," Brandt threatened, hoping the zombies, if they couldn't understand him, would at least take a hint.

One of the zombies who had just arrived looked at Will and walked determinedly straight at him, more like a fast stumble in zombie translation. Brandt tried to scoot further away but his back hit the wall.

His eyes were the size of saucers now. When the monster crouched down in front of him, much like the other, Brandt responded in the same manner but this one was smarter. It dodged the fist and took hold of his arm.

_It's going to bite me! _Brandt silently freaked out.

_Not today you undead creep! _The determined thought was all Will needed.

He launched the rest of his body at the zombie and slammed into it hard. Now they were both sprawled on the floor but the human had the upper hand, he was on top.

In its momentary surprise the zombie had released Brandt's arm and Will now was holding its head with both his hands and was just about to break its neck and fulfill his threat. Too bad the two zombies the one he had pinned came in with chose to pull him off before he could complete the job.

Now was not the time for pain or caring about it so Brandt's combat training came into use. He elbowed one in the stomach with his good arm and hit the other in the nose with his injured arm.

They, like the other zombies, released him and he limped across the room towards the door. The original zombies tried to stop him but failed when he opted to dive over the hospital bed instead of running through them.

Brandt landed in a perfect roll and continued to limp-run out of the room. Once in the hallway, however, he completely froze. There were zombies everywhere, wearing doctors outfits, nurses uniforms, normal clothing, and they were _everywhere. _

Brandt's moment of hesitation cost him, the zombies had followed him out of the room and were moaning extremely loud. It was as if a spotlight was placed on Brandt because all the zombies stopped what they were doing and stared at him.

_Get out now! _His mind implored him and his eyes caught the sight of a window in the room opposite of the one he was just in.

_Now or never, _he thought and ran with all he had in him at his means of freedom.

More loud growls and moans were heard but all Will could register was _escape. _His body hit the window and broke the glass. They were on the first floor, thankfully, but the impact still hurt.

Brandt didn't make a graceful landing and black dots formed in his vision when his leg hit the grassy ground. They were ignored as he scrambled to his feet and tried to run but the adrenaline rush was over and he collapsed again.

The zombies were at the window now and three jumped out. One was moaning softly and quietly as if trying to soothe Brandt in a zombie way.

"No nonononono. Stay back! Please, I don't want to die." Brandt felt himself say but a single tear trickled down his face.

_I don't want to become like you, _he pleaded in his mind, praying to every deity he knew of to save him.

Somehow it worked. The three stopped and they looked at him oddly. Seemingly to talk amongst themselves, the mini-horde began moaning to each other.

Very slowly so as not to attract their attention, Will began to move away from the flesh-eating monsters. But of course more had to show up and one had a syringe in its hand.

_Oh no. this cannot be happening. _

Brandt's slow get away became a fast crawl within a split second of seeing the zombie with the syringe. Too bad it was faster. It chased him and in one fluid movement, or as fluid as a zombie can get, stabbed Brandt with the needle and sent a new drug into his body.

"No please don't," Brandt managed to mumble before his eyes fell shut and he was out.

_~MI:GP (Back in time to where we left off with the team)~_

Benji was the first in Brandt's room but Jane and Ethan were right behind him. Their teammate was sitting on the floor with a look of pure fear on his face. The three doctors in the room with him were standing a few feet in front of Brandt. Two were holding up the third, who was holding his jaw.

"What happened here?" Ethan asked still staring at Brandt.

"We were removing the straps so I could look for the injection spot of the unknown drug better but he went crazy. He threw me over the bed and unstrapped himself. When he got to his feet he fell and kept trying to stay away from us. Shawn here was going to help him but the guy socked him in the face." One of the doctors replied but Will decided to join the conversation.

"Stay away from me or I will break your necks." He growled out menacingly.

"Maybe he's just confused and needs a familiar face," Benji suggested but it was Ethan who took the initiative.

Walking straight towards Brandt, Ethan bent down and crouched right in front of their friend, who then tried to punch him in the face just like the doctor.

Reflexes honed for years reacted and Ethan moved out of the path of the fist and snatched it. Will's eyes sparked with fear and then determination. He then did something unexpected.

Brandt barreled into Ethan and knocked him onto the ground. Ethan let go of Brandt's arm. That was when he felt hands move to familiar spots on his head and neck, spots where Ethan had put his hands before killing someone.

_No! _Ethan thought and luckily Benji and Jane had also realized what was about to take place.

They each dashed to their injured friend and pulled him off Ethan. Will reacted with his own honed skills and elbowed Benji in the stomach and Jane in the noise. They too let him go.

While each was recovering they watched Brandt jump across the bed and limp out the door. They had to stop him.

Benji again was in the lead and when they ran out they witnessed Brandt's shock as he scanned over the people in the hospital.

"Don't let him get out!" Benji yelled, causing everyone to look at Will.

Ethan saw Brandt's eyes move over to the window in the opposite room and he just knew he was going to go for it.

"He's going to jump out the window!"

Benji, Ethan, and Jane, who had blood still pouring down her face from the busted nose, chased after their friend, hoping he wouldn't hurt himself any worse than he already was.

The sound of glass breaking came at normal speed but seeing Brandt jump was in slow motion. When the moment passed they wasted no time in jumping out the window themselves. Will was trying to stand and run away but his leg gave out and he toppled over.

Benji figured it was his turn to reach out to his best friend. He started forward slowly.

"Brandt, it's me, Benji. I don't want to hurt you, I just want to help." He said softy but Will wasn't understanding it.

"No nonononono. Stay back. Please, I don't want to die." Will pleaded, and when the tear slid down his face Benji's heart broke.

_I will find and kill those bastards who did this to him, _he vowed but otherwise stopped moving.

"I don't think he can understand us. I mean, he can hear us and see us, but it's not us." Benji tried to explain but Ethan and Jane just nodded.

"He's freaking out about something, I just wish he would tell us what." Ethan added. Jane had a different idea to approach the subject.

"I'm sure he'll recognize us when I punch him in the face," She said, spitting a bit of the blood that had fallen into her mouth from her bleeding nose out.

That was when some of their fellow IMF agents ran up. One held a syringe in his hand and as Brandt tried to get away he jabbed him with it. It happened so quickly that Ethan and them didn't even have time to protest the agent's methods.

"What did you give him?" Ethan demanded as they walked over to the group of agents who were standing by Brandt's unconscious body.

"We found out which drug he was given and it was important that we gave him the antidote as soon as possible." The agent said gruffly clearly not enjoying Ethan's interrogation.

"Why?" Benji asked, looking worried.

"It was one of the interrogation drugs IMF developed, except it does nothing to said an interrogation. In reality the word 'interrogation' in this case meant torture. The longer the person is under its influence the worse it gets. Of course, some would say the side effects are the real torture."

Brandt's three teammate's worry for him just quadrupled in amount.

* * *

**Please Review!**

**Okay, no I wasn't watching some zombie horror film either!**

** I'm really glad this drug doesn't exist (or does it? Conspiracy theories at work). **


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: I am a horrible person, I know. I left this fic alone for far too long, but it wasn't entirely my fault. My parents banned me from posting until after school was finished. My muse ran off and only just now returned. I lost the first bits of this chapter and what I had written as the basis for the rest of the story. Life was evil but here I am. I hope you enjoy this next, long awaited chapter. I will post another soon (God willing). This one is somewhat of a filler but next one will be longer and more action-y. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible, because if I did Brandt would be the main guy and Ethan would take a backseat :)_

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_Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep..._

Somewhere in Brandt's fuzzy mind the words _what the hell is that?_ were whispered as the external beeping noise registered in his brain. When that happened it was like everything was put back into motion and was trying to force him to welcome the light. More noises began to make themselves known.

The murmur of people talking from a distance, the whirling sound of machines working, and then the very subtle hint of someone breathing close by. Other sense also turned on, especially his sense of touch which always led to some sort of pain.

As if on cue a throbbing sensation formed from his right leg and right shoulder. Breathing also hurt but for some odd reason Will felt like it could have been way worse. A loud sigh came from his right and if Brandt had the strength he would have.

"Seriously Brandt, how long are we going to have to wait for you to quit snoozing. I have this nice bag of Doritos, Nacho Cheese flavor, just for you." A voice said.

_That voice sounds familiar, _Brandt's confused brain muttered.

Eventually a name popped up inside his head in response to the voice.

_Benji. _

The sudden need to wake up and see his friend gripped Will and the climb towards lucidity became objective number one. In only a few seconds, which felt like years to Brandt, his eyes finally fluttered open and after blinking to adjust to the lighting landed on his fellow IMF agent.

"Oh I see how it is. You don't wake up when we beg you but when food is mentioned your eyes open straight away." Benji said but a smile covered his face.

Will tried to say 'Benji' but all that came out was a strangled whisper.

"Ah yes, they said you might have some trouble speaking so I took it upon myself to get you some ice chips. Here you go."

Benji placed a couple of the cold chips in Brandt's mouth. Brandt hadn't realized his throat was that parched until the cool ice was sliding down it and moistening it. After the ice chips were completely melted and swallowed Brandt attempted to speak again.

"Benji, w'at appen'd?"

A confused look formed on Brandt's face when he heard his voice. It sounded scratchy and hoarse, like it had been used way too much. He was focused on his own voice but Will still didn't miss something flashing across Benji's face before a grim expression followed.

"What do you remember?"

Images kept randomly coming to the forefront of Will's thoughts. Most of them were blurry and impossible to distinguish what they were, but there were some of zombies that were crystal clear.

Brandt swallowed in preparation for talking and then spoke, this time being greeted by a stronger voice that made more sense.

"I don't really remember anything."

Benji scooted the plastic chair he was sitting in closer and curiously asked, "What's the last thing you remember doing?"

"I was getting those stupid movies for you from the store and some guys jumped me. I think one of them hit me in the head."

Benji sighed and ran his hand through the little hair he had on his head.

"Brandt, those guys..uh...they...uh... were Kevin Hardy's men. They took you and beat you up pretty badly. This is the first time you have woken up lucid since the attack."

Brandt froze, his eyes fixed on Benji's face as if searching for answers in the other man's eyes.

_What? I was taken? What did they do to me? Did I tell them anything? Why can't I remember?_

The panicked thoughts drowned out the heart monitor that was going wild. They did not, however, drown out Benji's voice.

"Brandt? Brandt! Calm down, it's alright!"

Brandt tried so desperately to stop freaking out but something seemed to be egging his panic on and before Brandt knew it he was hyperventilating. Black spots began forming around his vision and he could hear the blood rushing in his ear. A distant cry could be heard from somewhere outside of Brandt's inner self.

"_Will!"_

Something pinched his arm and he felt another stab of panic, but this kind was of a different sort. This kind was the paranoia of a past bad experience rearing its head. A past experience that Brandt didn't know about.

The black spots gave away to pitch black darkness, and Will welcomed it. The dark abyss was better than the sporadic panic that was running haywire through his entire body, causing more pain than it was worth.

_I guess I will have to finish my conversation with Benji later, _Brandt thought before the lights turned out completely.

_Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep_

_There's that damn noise again, _Brandt thought sleepily.

Then the whole interaction with Benji came rushing back and Brandt's eyes shot open. He was more awake this time and actually took in his surroundings. He was obviously in a hospital. To his right sat a plastic chair and further behind it the door to the bathroom and the door to the hallway. A heart monitor was on his left and of course other machines that were irrelevant to Will.

The sound of a toilet flushing caused Brandt's eyes to jerk to the bathroom door. It opened and none other than Jane walked out. Brandt had been expecting Benji but Jane was not an unpleasant surprise. The odd thing about her was that she had a bandage on her nose.

_I wonder how she got that?_

"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Jane asked as she sat down in the plastic chair.

Brandt's focus turned internally to his body and he noticed that the throbbing in his leg and shoulder had decreased significantly and breathing was easier.

"Stuff still hurts but it is much better than when I woke up earlier."

Jane nodded and something resembling uncertainty crossed her countenance. Brandt would have asked her what was wrong by the left side of his head was itching, so like any normal human he scratched it, or at least tried to.

Just as his hand rose up to end then torturous itch Jane grabbed it and forced it back down to the bed.

"don't touch that side of your head. They only finished stitching that up a couple of hours ago. With all the things going on right now popped stitches would not be a great addition to the mess."

Brandt searched his brain for any sort of reason as to why the left side of his head would need stitches but came up with zilch.

"Did I get it from my vacation with Hardy's men?"

"Yes, I guess that means you remember what Benji told you. Is there anything else?"

"No, it's all out of focus. Some things are crystal clear but I think that was a dream."

Jane smiled at Brandt and said, "Why don't you tell me about this dream. It beats sitting here in awkward silence watching you sleep."

Will smiled back at her and gathered his jumbled memories of the zombies it what he hoped was the correct order of events.

"I was in a hospital room, almost like this one but different. Someone had strapped me to a bed, and when I looked at them they were zombies. I got free of the restraints and tried to run away, but due to injuries and zombie reinforcements showing up, I didn't get far. I almost broke the neck of one zombies and I'm pretty sure I broke the nose of another. Everything was off though, like when you are dreaming and you can't see things clearly, no matter how hard you try. I jumped out a window and the rest sorta runs together."

Brandt took a deep breath and then added, "What's strange is that I remember most of it in perfect detail, and yet it seemed so real. I even had similar wounds to the ones I have now. Weird, huh?"

Jane's face throughout the beginning of the recollection had been neutral but when he mentioned almost breaking the zombie's neck her eyes widened slightly and she looked almost uncomfortable with the rest of the dream. In fact, as soon as Will finished speaking she was up and walking towards the door.

"Jane? Where are you going?" Brandt asked.

"I'm going to get your doctor, he wanted to be alerted when you woke up again."

"Couldn't you just press the button to call a nurse?"

But Jane was already out the door.

_That was weird. I never did get to ask her about her nose. Oh well. _

Brandt shifted in the hospital bed and looked down at his broken right leg. It was in a splint and his toes kept twitching. Another thing that was bothering him was that spot on his head that was itching before.

_A little scratch won't rip my stitches out. I'll be really careful, _Brandt assured himself as he slowly lifted his hand back up to his head. His hand brushed up against the bandages and he rubbed the spot that was bothering him.

Shock hit him when he couldn't find the distinctive bump that would be where his ear was underneath the gauze.

"Where is my ear?" He whispered out shakily.

He checked to see if his right ear was there. A somewhat relieved sigh escaped Brandt's mouth but the relief was short lived when his thoughts returned to the missing piece of him.

"Jane?" He called out hoping she was nearby with the doctor, but no footsteps could be heard coming anywhere close to his door.

The familiar sensation of panic forming in his mind motivated Brandt to act. Will let out a gasp as he sat up fully and swung his legs to the side of the bed. Taking deep breaths, he placed both his foot and cast on the floor.

Before he stood up he ripped out his iv and took off the finger thingy for the heart monitor. Standing up wasn't as bad as he had pictured, if collapsing down to the floor in his hospital gown.

_Why aren't the drugs working? The pain killers should have at least lessened the pain, _Brandt thought as pain came in waves from his foot.

Now that he thought about it, everything was hurting, almost like the only reason his body wasn't hurting before was because he wasn't moving. But the doctors would have given him something for the pain, right?

His left non-existent ear kept itching and Brandt scratched at it absent mindedly but when his hand came back with blood on it and his head was screaming in agony, he knew something was wrong.

Doing his best to crawl/scoot to the bathroom, Brandt pulled the door open and grasped the sink. Using it as an anchor Brandt pulled himself off the floor, being careful to only stand on his left leg this time. Thankfully the lights were automatic and so he could see himself perfectly in the mirror.

His face was an abstract painting of bruises coupled with blood pouring down the left side. Will didn't even recognize himself.

"What did they do to me?" He asked to no one.

He continued to examine his head, oblivious to the world around him until a voice came from outside the bathroom.

"Brandt? Please tell me you're in the bathroom."

The voice inspired a spike of fear in Brandt. He didn't want to open the door but it wasn't locked, so the owner of the voice could get in without his approval. As if on cue the person outside the door said, "I'm going to come in. I just want to make sure you didn't hurt yourself."

The door opened and Brandt felt his heart give a jolt when his eyes laid on the figure. The floodgates holding back his entire ordeal broke and let loose the terror within when a single word ran through Brandt's mind.

_Ethan. _

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_Please Review! ;)_

_Although it was a long wait this fic is not over. I enjoy beating up Brandt too much anyway to stop now. _


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: I am a horrible person for making you guys wait again. I had planned to post this a whole month ago but a trip to another state totally ruined that. The rest of the time was pure laziness and just a need to de-stress. But on the bright side we finally got my mom a handicap van! Yay! And now without further wait, chapter whatever of Trains _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Mission Impossible, I just borrow the characters and hope I don't get chased down or hit by a car. _

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_Ethan. _

The injection, Ethan torturing him, the dogs, the pain, the torment, all of it came rushing back. It was such a shock that Brandt blacked out for a few seconds. When he came to Ethan was holding him up.

_Ethan, the guy who beat you and left you for the dogs to devour, _a voice whispered in Brandt's head. Ethan's face kept flashing throughout his thoughts along with the memories. Brandt subconsciously jerked away from Ethan's arms, almost falling over again but Ethan stopped Brandt's descent once more.

"Whoa Brandt, are you with me? Brandt?"

Ethan sounded extremely worried and Brandt tried to tell him he was fine but the words wouldn't come. In fact, any kind of movement was becoming hard. His attempt at getting away from Ethan had left him drained somehow and Will could barely stay in the standing-leaning position he was in. As if on cue Brandt's good leg collapsed under him making him put all of his weight on Ethan.

His eyes wouldn't stay open and nothing was working the way it should. Will could feel his team leader shaking him and hear him shouting in his ear but Brandt couldn't respond back.

Ethan's voice was getting farther and farther away, drowned out by a sudden _craving_ in Brandt's head, threatening to explode if it didn't get it. More hands began shaking his body but all Will could think, feel, breathe was this need, this desire he couldn't place. And then it was all over.

Brandt opened his eyes to find he was sitting on the floor and several doctors and nurses surrounding him. He was also still in Ethan's arms and although Will wasn't claustrophobic he felt like he could not take a breath with all the people around him.

"William, are you with us? William?" one of the doctors asked.

Brandt nodded which only seemed to prompt the rest of the medical staff who were crammed in the bathroom with him to start asking their own questions...all at once.

"Mr. Brandt how is your vision, are you dizzy?"

"William are you hearing a buzzing noise?"

"Are you in any pain?"

Ethan, having to sit and listen to all of this, eventually had enough.

"Why don't you guys back off and give him some room!" Ethan yelled above all the questions, using his follow-this-order-or-else-voice.

In a matter of seconds most of the doctors and nurses were either outside of the bathroom entirely or pretty close. The little bit of panic that had begun to slither up Brandt's spine vanished and he could finally take in a full breath.

"Thanks", he said weakly to Ethan.

"No problem, now how about we get you back into bed."

"But Ethan, we haven't even been on a first date yet."

"Good to see your sense of humor is still intact."

Together Ethan and Brandt got up from their positions on the floor and shuffled through the medical staff back to the hospital bed. Brandt was using Ethan as a crutch as they walked and as an anchor when he pulled himself on top of the bed. As he got settled one of the doctors slowly came closer until he was right beside the bed.

"Mr. Brandt, I need to check your injuries to make sure you didn't exacerbate any of them. I can already tell you ripped some of the bandages around your left ear, so I will have to re-bandage those as well, if that is alright?"

The doctor was mostly asking Ethan and when he was given a green light went about checking the other smaller bandages scattered across Brandt's body. Once he found that all of them were fine he opened a drawer and pulled out a roll of gauze.

The doctor walked to the other side of the bed so he could get to Will's left ear, or at least what was left of it.

"I'm going to have to wrap this around your head for now. When we are finally able to do surgery we will put something a bit more permanent over your ear for it to heal properly."

He looked like he wanted to say more but Ethan gave him a hard look, effectively silencing him. The doctor, after he finished with the gauze, and the rest of the people who had rushed in to assist Brandt all left the room, leaving only Ethan and Brandt.

Brandt's head was still killing him from scratching his ear and from his black out. No one had seemed all that bothered that his IV wasn't in or about giving him something for the pain. Even though he had joked with Ethan, Brandt felt uneasy being alone in the room with his teammate.

Brandt couldn't look at Ethan, the memories, although not as raw as they were before, were still fresh. It was a lot to process at the moment, and he was still trying to figure out how Ethan tied into any of it.

Ethan noticed Brandt's discomfort and attempted to break the awkward silence that had descended upon the room.

"So, how are you feeling?"

The question hung in the air for several seconds before Brandt even realized Ethan had spoken.

"I'm fine."

Brandt silently hoped Ethan would buy the obvious lie and just go away.

"Like hell you are. I can see it on your face, you're in pain."

"Well I wouldn't be if someone would just give me some damn morphine," Brandt snapped. He was in pain and was tired of being in it.

"I'm sorry Brandt, I wish we could give you something but we have to wait for the drug to get out of your system."

Will froze, panic once again making its way into his head. Any hope that the memories were fake ended with Ethan's words.

"So it's real," he whispered more to himself than Ethan but his team leader still replied.

"You remember?"

"Yeah, that's what happened when I was in the bathroom. It's kinda why I blacked out, I guess."

Ethan sat down in the plastic chair and sighed. Brandt decided it was now or never.

"Why did you do it?"

A confused look manifested itself on Ethan's face.

"Do what?"

"Why did you do this to me?"

Will's voice cracked as he said it and he looked away from Ethan's face.

"You think I did this?" Ethan sounded surprised, but he was always a good actor.

"I saw you. You were there the entire time," Brandt was tired of Ethan pretending that he didn't know anything. He was there, he did all of it.

"That was the drug making you hallucinate, I wasn't really there Brandt. You have to believe me."

His words were so sincere that Brandt almost believed him, almost.

_Pretend you believe him, _something said in the back of Will's thoughts. It was a good idea.

"It causes hallucinations?"

Brandt chose to not go the lying route since Ethan was sure to spot it and instead went with a topic change. It worked. Ethan looked relieved and a slight smile formed on his lips.

"Yeah, earlier on you thought we were some kind of monster and jumped out a window just to get away from us." Ethan chuckled a little and Brandt felt himself flush with embarrassment.

"I thought that was a dream." Brandt muttered. That was when everything fell into place.

"Is that why Jane's nose is broken?"

Ethan nodded and then smiled again.

"You almost broke my neck too."

"I thought you guys were zombies trying to eat me."

Ethan laughed at that and Brandt internally congratulated himself at convincing Ethan that he thought his little stunt at the warehouse was another hallucination.

"That would explain you shouting at us to stay away and that you didn't want to be like us," Ethan added.

"Yeah. Oh, where are Benji and Jane?" Brandt asked, his mind now more focused on an escape plan than small talk.

"Jane had to go on a short assignment, but Benji is around here somewhere. He said he would be visiting again today."

_Bingo, _Will thought triumphantly as he formulated a plan. It wasn't the best plan in the entire world but it would do. First things first, he has to get Ethan out of the room.

"Benji does owe me some Doritos he was spouting out about. How about you go and get some for yourself so that when he gets here we can all eat them together."

_Great idea Brandt, now he's going to think you want to have a slumber party so you and Benji can braid his hair. _

It must have been his lucky day because Ethan thought it was a wonderful idea. He told Will he would be back in a minute and to not run away. They laughed at the joke before Ethan was out the door.

_Okay, he's gone, time for phase two. _

Phase two involved movement and however necessary it was Brandt was still hesitant. Holding his breath, Will sat up like he did when he had woken up earlier, but swung his legs this time to the left, facing the window.

"You did this once you can do it again. Just pretend zombies are chasing you," Brandt muttered to himself as he stood up on his left leg, the right held parallel to the floor.

Will took a deep breath and hopped all the way to the window. This was the first time he had really looked at the window and he silently thank whatever deity was rooting for him when he saw that he was on the first floor.

Taking another deep breath, Brandt unlocked the window and slid it open. He hesitated a couple more seconds, enjoying the cool breeze, before he swung his legs over the sill and sat on it. The rest just required a bit of wiggling and sliding and then Will was on the ground leaning against the side of the hospital.

_Now what? _Brandt thought.

He hadn't really believed he would get this far without Ethan catching on, but now that he was here the only direction to go was forward. The parking lot was right there, stealing a car would be easy, it's not like he hadn't done it before.

After hopping and limping to the parking lot as fast as he could go, Brandt was practically hyperventilating. And then a thought hit him. Ethan would expect him to just steal a car, which is not what he wanted to be, predictable. Someone's bike was sitting against a tree right there in one of those weird garden thingies in the parking lot. Brandt again thanked whatever gods were smiling upon him when there was no lock on it. Will jumped on the bike and although riding would hurt with his right leg being broken and all it was still manageable. Another issue presented itself as Brandt pedaled out of the hospital parking lot.

_Where am I going? I can't go home, Ethan would look there first. Benji's maybe? No no, that would be the second place he would look. Wait! I know where he wouldn't look!_

Brandt rode toward the library, but realized he would have to make a small detour before he could go walking into a public place. Hospital gowns weren't in style and he figured he would be way too noticeable, although a guy with his butt hanging out riding a bike down main street wasn't noticeable at all. A house near the library had some laundry hanging out on the line and since Brandt didn't have any money on him, committing another crime was the only option at the moment.

He snuck into the backyard and grabbed a shirt and some pants that looked like they might fit. Upon closer inspection they were a few sizes too big but it would have to do. Shoes Will figured he could go without, plus fitting the splint into a shoe just seemed like a nightmare.

By now Ethan and the rest of the hospital knew he was gone, making things only slightly more difficult. Brandt would just have to be a subtle as possible. When he got to the library he made a beeline for the computers. Once he got online he looked up the address and printed out the directions.

_Let's just get there Will and then we can figure out our next move, _Brandt silently told himself.

He did receive some strange looks at the library but no one confronted him so Brandt was happy. He limped out and back to the bicycle when the sound of sirens reached his ears.

"Crap," he muttered. Jumping onto the bike, Brandt kicked off the ground and rode off towards his desired destination: the very torture chamber Ethan had hurt him in.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea in reference to Will's mental state but it was the only place he was sure that Ethan wouldn't look. Brandt was still having trouble wrapping his head around the fact that Ethan hated him so much that he would do this to him. What had he done to deserve this?

Brandt let his negative thoughts wash over him as he finally arrived at the place of his fears. He threw the bike against the building next door so as not to look suspicious sitting in front of what was now a crime scene, complete with that stupid yellow tape. Sneaking in was pretty easy, he was a trained agent after all.

Limping into the very room was less simple. Brandt's fear was attacking him and with an exhausted sigh he leaned into the wall and slid to the floor. And then another fit hit him. Darkness crept in just like it had in the bathroom, only this time it was slightly faster and much more foreboding. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and he could only comprehend one concept. The _craving, _the _need. _His heartbeat drummed in his ears like gunfire and it was like a bomb exploded in Brandt's brain. Excruciating agony hit him, worse than any headache or migraine Will had ever experienced, and with it came the realization that if he didn't get his new heart's desire, his want, then it was going to kill him.

The absence of light, the pounding in his ears, the hot poker in his mind, who knows how long they lasted, an eternity it seemed, but when it finally passed Brandt again found himself in a completely different position than the one he had started in.

His hands were pressed to his temples and were crushing his skull in an attempt to alleviate the pain. He was curled in a ball on the floor, twisted in such a way that left his broken leg screaming. Blood trickled down his face from his constant pressure on his left ear, forcing the blood to slip out from underneath his bandages.

Brandt's throat felt raw and he figured he must have cried out during the episode. He still couldn't bring to kind what it was that he wanted so badly. During the initial stages of the episode he knew exactly what he craved, but when lucidity returned any memory he had of this unattainable item was lost.

"What could I possibly want in a moment of pain like that?" He asked to no one.

And as in all cases when someone decides to ask the solitude and silence a question, they reward them with company and a spoken answer.

"You just want more." Kevin Hardy's creepy voice replied back.

Brandt froze.

"It's understandable, really. Getting addicted to something like that is, well, it makes it hard to quit cold turkey. Lucky for you I have just the solution."

Will knew inside he didn't want to know or have anything to do with the solution but his mouth spoke on its own as per the usual.

"And what might that be?"

"I'll just give you another dose. It was so kind of you to meet in such a secluded place, a place that none of your teammates would think to look until it's too late. Thank you for making this less of a hassle for me."

Brandt felt the fear and panic crawl back up his spine. This wasn't going to end well.

* * *

_Please Review! :)_

_So a cliffy! It's actually just a sign that this fic is soon coming to a close. There will not be another month long wait or longer, I swear this on the life of my favourite sister's first child, who is not even close to existing yet. School begins soon though :(. Next chapter is less evil to Ethan, at least I hope. Brandt, not so lucky, he will get to experience drug mode again. _

_To random supernatural fans only: You know you have no life when you see a family of moose statues at Lowes and can't help but smile and think of Sam. (Just random, I blame sleep deprivation) _


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